National Highway

Front inscription

The Bankhead National Hwy. Association was formed in 1916 with the goal of creating a transcontinental highway that would run from Washington, D.C. to San Diego, CA. When completed in 1920, it became the second transcontinental highway in the U.S. The National Hwy., also known as the Bankhead Hwy., connected towns across the S.C. Upstate. It crossed into S.C. near Blacksburg and passed through Gaffney, Spartanburg, Greer, Greenville, and Anderson.

Reverse inscription

John Hollis Bankhead (1842-1920), A U.S. Senator from Alabama and advocate of the Good Roads Movement, sponsored the Federal Road Aid Act of 1916, which authorized $75 million for road improvement and was the first federal highway funding law. The National Hwy. passed through Greer, following what is now Poinsett St. Later, the Super Hwy. (now Wade Hampton Blvd.) and Interstate 85 would replace the National Hwy. as the main route from Charlotte to Atlanta.